Kiev Theological Academy

The Kiev Theological Academy was one of the theological academies in Russia during the nineteenth century. The academy was a development of the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium that was formed under Metropolitan Peter Mohyla and was closed by the Bolshevik government that took control of the Russian Empire in 1917. The theological academy was re-established as an independent school after the fall of the Soviet Union.

History

The Kiev Academy was a phase in the development of what is now the National University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy of Ukraine. The academy originated, 1615, as the Kiev Brotherhood School that in 1632 merged with the schools of the Lavra becoming the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium. Under the influence of Metr. Peter Mohlya, the Collegium became a leading educational institution that introduced Western European educational standards in the Slavic east. In 1658, the Collegium became an Academy. In 1817, the Academy was closed by Tsar Alexander I.

The academy was reopened in 1819 as the Kiev Theological Academy, dedicated to theological instruction. The theological academy became during the nineteenth century a leading theological school with an international reputation educating clerics, many who became hierarchs.

After the Bolsheviks came into control of the Russian Empire in 1917, the Theological Academy was closed during the 1920s. The academy’s library was plundered and the Bohoyavlensky Cathedral destroyed.

In 1991, after the collapse and breakup of the Soviet Union, the Kiev Theological Academy re-opened, while the Kiev-Mohyla Academy was revived as a separate, secular school called the National University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy.